The Ontario Early Years Centre (OEYC) returned to Morrisburg on November 7th at the St. James Anglican Church on High Street and every Monday, except for holidays, parents and caregivers are invited to bring their little ones for some social time.

OEYC offers a “comfortable, safe learning environment where parents/caregivers with children 0 – 6 years can come to play and interact with each other. You will find a variety of creative and learning activities during free play, circle time and story time.”

According to OEYC Family Resource Co-ordinatior, Fiona Carr, the sessions are free and the facilities are many.

The church facilities come complete with an elevator. This comes in handy for those who can’t tackle the stairs with two toddlers, a stroller, and a sleeping baby.

In addition, there is a change room as well as a washroom. There is a room for nursing or for quiet play. The main activity room comes complete with a large play space, snack table, and a playdough and crafts table.

The toys are washed frequently in the adjoining kitchen.

Generally, the first couple of hours are for free play and fun. Then, at 11:30, it is time for clean-up and then circle time.

Circle time is filled with songs, stories, instruments, and guided fun.

Carr revealed, “we’re happy here and it’s such a nice space. The parents seem to really like it.”

Go to www.giag.ca for more information. The South Dundas Playgroup has two sites: St. James Anglican Church in Morrisburg (613-360-9934) and Iroquois Public School in Iroquois (613-652-1100).

“For death begins with life’s first breath; And life begins at touch of death,” wrote John Oxenham.

On November 23rd, the Dundas County Hospice (DCH), located on Villa Drive in Williamsburg, saw a group of 13 volunteers graduate from their 10 week/ 30 hour Hospice Palliative Care course.

According to material provided by DCH, “volunteers make the difference. DCH volunteers are special people who are warm and caring, and offer emotional support.”

DCH defines hospice as “a philosophy of care,” which basically sums up their purpose: “DCH recognizes the uniqueness of individuals and their families, and how life-threatening illness affects them. Compassionate care is directed at improving their lives physically, emotionally and spiritually.”

The hospice offers service seven days per week. They provide trained volunteers, support groups for anyone suffering from a life-threatening illness, support groups for families, and bereavement support. Loans of specialty equipment, books, videos, or video recording equipment are also available.

Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement, once said “families need support and help to draw on their own strengths and patients’ understanding of their emotional problems and aid in their spiritual search for meaning, sense of self and the possibility of growth through loss.”

For more information on available services, or to find out more about the next Hospice Palliative Care course, to be held in the spring of 2012, phone 613-535-2215 or go to the DCH website at www.dundascountyhospice.ca.

Dame Cicely Saunders is quoted on the first page of DCH’s yearly newsletter saying, “you are as important on the day that you die as the day you were born.”

“I see some soups, some beans and lasagna,” said Millard as she checked out the wonderful pile of donations. “We don’t often get things like cereal and baby food, so they are important too.”

With the school’s food drive following on the heels of the recent Stuff a Cruiser and before that the Halloween, door to door, collection, Millard says the Food Bank is in fairly good shape.

Although the Bank never has too much food, “we are in good shape now and should have enough to get through to February. Our three main food drives all happen in November, which is good because we need the food in December. And they help us get through the winter.”

At the schools’ monthly assembly, a number of achievements were recognized beginning with the success of the fund-raising (bracelet sales) effort for the annual Ecole de Neige trip. The top fund raisers were recognized and Shelby Martineau was named top sales lady.

Named as artists of the month and having their framed artwork on display in the school’s front showcase were Hannah Rolfe at the junior level, SheeAnne Hunter at the primary level and Anthony Walsh in kindergarten.

Thirteen students were awarded for various accomplishments including enthusiasm, attentive listening, being a good friend, showing kindness to a friend in need, for being a great mentor etc.

It was also announced that the school’s Cookie Dough fund raiser resulted in some $15,000 worth of dough being sold for a profit of $4,000 for the school.

The money raised from this project is used to enhance technology and expand the selection of books in the school’s book room.

Travis Walters was the top salesman with $778 in sales, and he was presented a pair of Sens hockey tickets and a family movie pass.

Draws were made for prizes donated by the school’s staff. The students received tickets for their sales and then placed them in the draw for the prizes they most desired. This is the major fund raiser of the year, done by the school.

The parents council runs other events to raise money for playground equipment.

November 25th was a day of celebration for the Williamsburg Non-Profit Housing Corporation.

The morning’s events began with the unveiling of the Tolley Place sign. The Tolley Place townhomes opened in 2009, offering quality housing to younger seniors.

James Kooistra, Chair of the Board of Directors for the corporation, said, “the idea of this started long ago. I was told it was Trevor (Tolley, former Chair of Board) who had this idea.”

Tolley reminded everyone present that he did not do this alone. He listed all of the people and organizations that worked hard to make Tolley Place a reality.

From the unveiling of the sign, the group moved to one of two new sheds recently erected. Here Kooistra informed everyone that the corporation had received a $15,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, which financed the two sheds, two dedication trees, as well as the walkway between Tolley Place and J. W. MacIntosh Seniors Support Centre.

According to a press release from the corporation, due to a 2010 gardening project started by Tolley Place residents, “a garden shed has been placed at Tolley Place and will be available for tool storage. A second shed was placed at the east end of the walkway and will store maintenance equipment.”

As for the trees, Kooistra said, “some years ago the Board said farewell to three board members: Trevor Tolley, Joan Findlay, and Barbara Phifer. They served on the board for many, many years.”

“They were promised that we would plant some trees, one for Trevor and one for the two ladies.”

He then thanked the three again, for their “years of commitment and dedication to the Board.”

A sign dedicating the trees to the three former board members will be affixed to the garden shed.

The walkway, which was completed this fall, finally “links two projects that should always be linked,” said South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds.

As Kooistra pointed out, “the walkway was constructed to provide easier access to the services of the Community Support Centre. These services include exercise classes, hot meal programs, health and wellness clinics and educational presentations. The sidewalk encourages regular walking which is great exercise in itself.”

Mahlon Locke, Carolyn Beckstead, Paul St. Pierre and Rachelle Eves dropped their first game to Dunne from Metcalfe, the eventual ‘A’ champ, and lost their afternoon match to Hogaboam of Winchester, the ‘B’ event winners. Some tough competition, especially for Rachelle and Paul, first-timers. Well done!

Ian Wilson, Wendy Casselman, Maurice Kolff and Kathy Wilson won their opening match against Winchester, but lost their afternoon game on the last rock to Metcalfe’s Dunne in the last end. Fine work for the Wilson foursome as well!

We had two teams entered in Lancaster’s senior women’s bonspiel last week. In the early draw, Alice Thompson, Susan McIntosh, Betty Locke and Sharon Van Allen dropped their first match to a Cornwall rink. Then in the afternoon they played a second foursome from Cornwall on the two-sheet facility. They won this one, and came home with gift certificates. Gretta McGann, Cheryl Thompson, Yvonne Mabo and Claire Locke lost to a Vankleek Hill team quartet, playing in the late draw. After lunch they returned to the ice and defeated the other Vankleek Hill entry, winning the high one-game award. A good day’s work, folks, and you missed the winter weather.

The next day two of our senior men’s teams met in a morning elimination final for our Parnell competition on Friday. There were two blank ends in the match, with Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and Jack Dikland matching shots with Jack Barkley, Dave King, Doug Jarvis and Andy Patenaude. In the thrilling see-saw battle, the Barkley foursome was up with two ends to go when Morrell stole three and fought off all comeback attempts to win the right to represent Morrisburg.

Friday we hosted Prescott, Cornwall and Lancaster in the first of the four-club Parnell competitions this season. Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and Jack Dikland lost their morning match to Prescott in a thrilling game which went to an extra end, and dropped their afternoon game to Lancaster, who lost to Prescott in a tie-breaker.

Back in Winchester, Jack Dikland, David King, Jack Barkley and Andy Patenaude dropped a close match in the morning and tied their second contest. Don O’Brien, Karl Duncan, Earl Jeacle and Eric Johnson won their first, but lost their afternoon game.

Sid Morrell, Neil Williams, Len Bellamy and Gerry Thompson were in Navan recently for the 70+ bonspiel. Our fellows won their first match, but dropped the second.

Ron Brown, not Ron Beaupre, played on the winning team in the senior men’s first draw. Sorry, Ron. Also, in the senior men’s first draw, the second and third place teams were Sid Morrell and Don O’Brien respectively.

In other news, the senior men’s bonspiel will be held in January, the membership numbers are rising, and we have a new sponsor’s sign. Things are looking up.

Glenn Cougler is organizing a stick bonspiel for January 27. And finally, the club is running a funspiel on Dec. 10 as a fund raiser. Sign-up sheets are in the clubhouse.

The South Dundas “River Rat Treasures” Novice B Lions renewed their battle of Dundas County last Monday night in Chesterville tying their division rival North Dundas Demons, 4-4.

Playing their fifth game in three days, the Lion’s needed two third period goals to tie up the Demons. Kayne McCadden’s goal with 1:58 left in the third period proved to be the final goal in the 4-4 tie.

After winning the face-off back to the defense McCadden regained the puck and wristed a shot high in the air which hit a Demons defender and bounced directly into the net. Spencer Barclay and Trent Rae picked up assists.

Earlier in the third, McCadden stole the puck away from a defender and wristed a shot that bounced up and over the Demon’s goalie. Ben Lapier then jumped on the free puck shoveling it into the open net.

The Demons had gained a 4-2 lead early in the third period and had scored late in the second to break a 2-2 tie.

Owen Fetterly opened the Lions scoring on a pass from behind the net by Ben Lapier. Adam Barclay responded for the Demons beating Lion’s goalie Brendan Shaver.

In the second, the Demon scored first on a goal by Delaney Johnston. The Lions responded when Owen Fetterly cut off a Demon attacker at the Lion’s blue line and moved it quickly to Lapier who went the distance around a Demon defender and snuck a puck by Demons goalie Joshua Dagenias just inside the right post.

The Lion’s extended their unbeaten streak to eight on Sunday afternoon when they defeated the Brockville #1 Braves, 3-1. The Braves opened the scoring in the first period on a shot that Trent Rae tried to deflect away from the net. Shaver would shut the door the rest of the way with help from his defenceman Cassidy Bilmer.

The Lion’s drew even in the second period on a left wing break by Nolan Henry. Emytt Fetterly picked up an assist on the play.

The Lions took the lead in the third on the power play when Joshua Broad centred a pass to Henry in the slot but had it knocked away to where Ben Lapier was standing to net the game winning goal.

Lapier scored again moments later on a backhander. Spencer Barclay picked up the assist.

The South Dundas “River Rat Treasures” Novice B Lions play two home games this weekend, Saturday at 10 a.m. versus North Dundas on Lions Day and Sunday versus Smith Falls at 1 p.m.

Well, here we are again, the last day of November. Tomorrow is the first day of December, just 25 days until Christmas!

In the church this past Sunday, we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent. May I ask you a question, one that I don’t expect you to answer, except maybe for yourself, your own personal musing if you will?

What does Christmas mean to you?

Some of you will see it as a time for family and friends. Maybe a time for sharing gifts, or celebrating with family get-togethers. For some it may be so busy a time that you almost wish it never came. For others it is a boost for business. Christmas has all kinds of meanings for all kinds of people.

May I say Christmas is really about Jesus! It is a celebration of the time that God sent His one and only Son into the world to be the Savior of the world.

John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, (that’s you and me), that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes on Him would not perish, (that is die separated from God) but would have everlasting life”.

I’m amazed today when I talk to people and listen to people talk, that it seems everyone believes he or she is going to heaven. But, the verse of scripture which I just quoted, which is God’s word by the way, tells us that to get to heaven one must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, what is it that we are supposed to believe?

Again, God’s word makes it clear for us.

Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of God’s purpose and plan for our lives.”

The bible also tells us that sin separates us from God. That is what is meant in John 3:16 when it talks about perishing. To perish is to die without having been reconciled unto God.

Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death…” eternal separation from God when we die.

There’s another part to Romans 6:23 though, and it’s the good news. It says, “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” That is why Jesus came, that is why we celebrate Christmas, because Christmas is all about Jesus.

Does that mean we shouldn’t give gifts? Not at all! By all means, bless someone who is near and dear to you this Christmas.

But, let’s not forget Jesus.

I recently read a story about a group of people who wanted to honor a special friend. So they sent out invitations, rented a hall, decorated it beautifully, and hired a first class caterer.

On the appointed day, everyone showed up, everyone that is except the guest of honor. When those present investigated, they were embarrassed to find that they had forgotten to invite the special person that they all wanted to honor.

I think Jesus must feel like that at times. This year invite Him. He’d love to be with you, and it is His birthday after all.

Bolstered by the return of two former scoring heavy weights, Michele Lefebvre and Chris Rutley, the Morrisburg Junior B Lions gave the Winchester Hawks a run for their money here Friday night.

Still hurting from an 11-2 loss to the Hawks on their home ice on November 4, the Lions, according to coach Thom Racine, “retooled and came back to play a solid game.”

The Lions kept pace throughout Friday night’s game against the division leading Hawks only to give up a 6-5 loss on a Hawks’ power-play goal with just 54 seconds left on the clock.

Coming through solid for the Lions, once again, was Alex Steingruber who put together an outstanding three goal performance.

Steingruber’s first goal was scored on the Lions’ power play (assisted by Chris Rutley), and the second was assisted by Ryan Ward and Clarke Veenstra. The third he scored, unassisted, to tie the game 5-5, at 14:43 of the third period while the Lions were short-handed.

“We battled them hard,” said Racine. “Then we took a horrible slashing penalty in the neutral zone (with 2:20 left in the third period and the score tied 5-5) and that cost us.”

“Steingruber had a great game. We have the offense now (with the addition of Rutley and Lefebvre). Now we have to start winning games.”

It is the second time this year that Lefebvre has signed with the Lions, but this time with the December 1 card deadline here, he understands the Lions can’t afford to waste a card.

The card deadline means that all teams must go down to 25 cards (signed or unsigned) and that is it for the rest of the season.

Lefebvre was the Lions’ Rookie of the Year last season and second in the Lions’ scoring. He also finished in the St. Lawrence Division’s top 10 scoring race.

“He’s a dynamic player and he is happy to be back,” says Racine.

Chris Rutley started his junior hockey with the Lions. In the 2009/10 season he was the team’s top scorer and finished eighth overall in the St. Lawrence Division’s scoring race. That year he was named the Lions best forward and picked up team silverware for top scorer and most assists.

The following season he was off to college in Kingston and with the travel situation, the Lions traded him to the Westport Rideaus.

His return to the Lions this past weekend was the result of trades involving the Rideaus, the Lions Char-Lan, Rutley and former Lions’ goaltender Erik Plummadore who ended up in Char-Lan.

Rutley is in his final season of junior age and next year will be an overage player.

“They (Rutley and Lefebvre) are both very dynamic players and they make us better,” says Racine. They make our kids better. In Winchester, we never led the game, but we were never really out of it either. With seconds to go, Steingruber had a wide open net. He shot and the puck hit something that deflected it away. We were that close to the tie.”

Dylan Chessell scored the lone first period goal for a 1-0 Hawks lead.

Steingruber tied it at 12:51 of the second period, but a pair of quick counters from Josh Stubbings (14:18 and 14:30) gave the Hawks a two-goal edge.

The Lions, however, weren’t ready to roll-over, and before the period ended they had tied it on goals from Clarke Veenstra (assisted by Chris Rutley) and Steingruber (from Ward and Veenstra).

In the third, the Hawks again went up by two (Brock Burge at 3:42 and Steven Johnston at 4:41) to again force the Lions to recharge.

That they did with a power play marker from Lefebvre (assisted by Michael Paquette at 6:02) and Steingruber’s unassisted, short-handed counter which tied it 5-5.

Vincent Bauline-Charland scored on the Hawks power-play at 19:06 for the 6-5 win.

The Lions were scheduled to play the South Grenville Rangers at the Cardinal and District Community Centre on Sunday, November 27.

The game did start but was cancelled due to ice conditions just seconds after the puck was dropped.

“We don’t know what happened. The boys said the ice was brutal behind the net during warm-up.”

According to Racine, safety became an issue in the area just seconds after the game started and as a result it was cancelled.

With just one game on the weekend and that the loss to the Hawks, the Lions now find themselves trailing the CharLan Rebels in the St. Lawrence Division standing by four points.

The Rebels put together a pair of weekend wins over Alexandria 5-2 and Akwesasne 5-4.

Coming up the Lions are in Casselman Thursday night. They host the St. Lawrence Division’s third place Alexandria Glens at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Several local people are out hundreds of dollars thanks to a recent cold call scam involving non-existent computer viruses.

Recently, local computer technician, Michael Prunner of MP Computer Services reported several incidents to the local police involving clients who had received calls.

In fact, Constable Peter Robertson, Media Relations Officer for the SD&G OPP, said this will be Crime Stoppers “Crime of the Week.”

Prunner said the people calling most often say they are from Microsoft and “they tell you that you have a serious problem with your Windows. One even told the customer that their Windows had expired.”

Here is an example of a typical cold call: “Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Microsoft Support Team. Your computer is sending error messages to us, which tells us that you have viruses and some corrupted files. I can help you fix that now.”

“They sit you down in front of your computer telling you that you have bad stuff on your computer and they need to work on it. Basically, they use all free cleaners and they charge you 10 times more than it’s worth,” informed Prunner.

According to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Kerry Petryshyn, this is what is called “deceptive marketing.”

What this means is that the person calling is from a “legitimate” company of sorts, but has nefarious intentions in terms of charging you for something you could have gotten for free, charging you for something you don’t need, or charging you much more than necessary for something that may or may not be useful.

The best option for dealing with this sort of scammer is to contact the Competition Bureau of Canada. Petryshyn said, “they deal with companies that are deceiving clients.”

As with other “viruses,” the “computer scam virus” has many different strains. Petryshyn said, “there’s a few potential possibilities that can occur as there’s a variety of anti-virus scams coming out.”

According to a release from the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (CAFC), “the virus scam has grown to epidemic proportions in Canada, now accounting for between 70 and 80 per cent of frauds reported daily to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre.”

“This dramatic increase means the scam is working – more and more Canadians are being targeted by the virus scam.”

“Allowing a third party to download software or remotely access your computer carries a number of serious risks.”

“Your computer can also be converted to a bot-net, which means criminals can use it without your knowledge or participation. It can then be used to spam other people, spread viruses to your friends or overload computer networks.”

“Getting your credit card information is the second important part of the virus scam. Once a criminal has that information it can be used to make purchases without your consent.”

The CAFC also warns that “not all virus scams are conducted over the phone. Many CAFC callers report being scammed after responding to internet pop-up ads for anti-virus software.”

As for Microsoft, they do not cold call customers. An employee of Microsoft Ottawa pointed out that it would be almost impossible to do so because of the immense number of users all over the world.

For those who may have already given a scammer access to their computer, Petryshyn has some advice: “If you think somebody’s had access to your computer, I wouldn’t be going back on the Internet until I’ve gotten the problem solved. It’s like opening the door again.”

He advised that anti-virus and anti-spy programs do not check for peer-to-peer applications. For this, “you may need a technician to check your system.”

Peer-to-peer applications are those that give someone else remote access to your computer and files.

Petryshyn uses a house metaphor to explain the situation more clearly: allowing someone to install peer-to-peer software, giving them remote access to your computer, is basically the same as giving “the bad guy” a key to your back door. They can come in whenever they like, invited or not.

As for credit cards, Petryshyn advises checking with your bank or credit card company right away.

For questions, or to report a scam incident, contact the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre via email at info@antifraudcentre.ca or via the telephone at 1-888-495-8501.